The identity of the man responsible for the biggest importer of Petrol from Malta has been revealed.
Nigeria’s petroleum importation from Malta surged significantly to $2.8 billion after the assumption of office by President Bola Tinubu, compared to zero between 2017 and 2022, and a mere $13.32 million in 2016.
The unusual volume of petrol importation from the tiny European country was revealed by Aliko Dangote, the President of Dangote Group at the height of the face off between Dangote refinery and the Nigeria National Petroleum Company.
The man behind the massive importation is Abdulkabir Adisa Aliu, owner of Matrix Energy and member of the presidential economic coordination council (PECC).
According to TheCable, Aliu strenuously denied any wrongdoing in his business practices and promised a full response to questions being asked.
In July 2024 alone, over 200,000 tonnes of petrol from Malta were discharged into the Matrix jetty in Warri, Delta state, according to an insider who shared confidential documents with TheCable.
“This represents about 25 percent of Nigeria’s monthly PMS consumption going to a relatively small player with only 150 retail stations,” the insider told the publication.
According to the report, Aliu is also leveraging his close relations with the top management of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd (NNPCL) to secure crude oil cargoes from the national oil company for his company.
“Crude cargoes are discretionarily allocated to Matrix Energy by the NNPC monthly,” the person familiar with the company’s operations said.
The crude allocations to Matrix are traded by Gulf Transport & Trading (GTT), a trading company registered in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the report further stated.
Matrix — which has three old ships (Matrix Pride, Matrix Triumph, and Matrix S.ILU) — reportedly loads diesel products exported from Russia in Lome, Togo.
It is understood that the diesel from Russia is typically off-spec and is often corrected in places like Lome and Malta through blending with other components.
However, on June 16, about 15,000 tonnes of diesel — loaded on May 26 from Novorossiysk, Russia, and transported by a vessel, MT Kallos — were reportedly transloaded into Matrix Triumph offshore Lome without corrections and discharged into Matrix jetty in Warri, Delta state, Nigeria, on June 21.
On June 19, another 15,000 tonnes were transloaded into Matrix Pride and then discharged into the Obat Oil terminal on June 22.
In documents seen by Publication, the products from Malta were transported through intermediate ships and sometimes through intermediate companies like Poly Pro Trading registered in Dubai Free Trade Zone.
Their listed office at OneJLT Towers 05.015, Dubai, is a business centre without any physical presence, according to checks by TheCable.
“Malta is now the top European destination for blending and ship-to-ship (STS) transfers of sanctioned Russian oil and petroleum products ever since the Greek navy decided to stop such activities in their offshore zone,” the source said.
“About 35 percent of shipment into Malta is naphtha and other components which are blended into gasoline to produce lower quality ‘African Spec’. This lower quality spec is then transhipped into various vessels for delivery into Nigeria to be sold to unsuspecting public who suffer frequent vehicle and equipment breakdowns.”
An oil blending plant has no refining capability but can be used to blend re-refined oil (a used motor oil that has been treated to remove dirt, fuel, and water) with additives to create finished lubricant products.
With TheCable report
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